Bento
by CaptainBrieOnToast
Summary: When fellow classmate Choi Seungcheol ups) stops showing up with lunches at school you don't ask him why. You don't bother him about it like the others. You don't even comment on his lack of a meal. Likewise, when you start sitting next to Seungcheol at lunch with an extra packed lunch Seungcheol eats it without much of a question at all. Part 1 of the Tsudere Children AU


School has always been an interesting topic for you.

You don't need much of an education. There's no point in you taking these intense math classes when you are going to Culinary school the moment that you graduate.

You already have a dream job in mind, a culinary school you know you can get into and a totally achievable goal in sight. You run a catering company over the summer months so your name is already out there, it's really just a matter of getting the degree you need and getting the hell out of dodge.

With that in mind, you're particularly favorite period was definitely the lunch period. Cliche, sure, but you enjoyed floating between the different groups of people, advertising what you were capable of doing, and seeing what sort of foods your classmates would bring to lunch.

You liked to keep a mental log on what everyone around you was eating if they liked eating it, what their favorite sort of flavors were, and more. You paid attention to how much people ate quantity wise and you listened to find out how many meals people generally ate.

So when Choi Seungcheol stopped eating food at lunchtime you noticed.

You didn't know Seungcheol very well personally, but you noticed nonetheless. It wasn't like he was the only one at school who didn't eat lunch. You noticed that a number of students didn't eat at lunchtime. They all had their own reasons and while valid or not, there wasn't anything you could do to get someone who didn't want to eat to put food in their mouths.

But, Seungcheol _liked_ to eat. You knew he liked to eat because he usually ate a lot. He brought big lunches and reminded all of his friends how important it was to eat food, and if someone forgot their lunch he shared some of his with them and got his own lunches from the lunch line if he forgot food.

His friends noticed he wasn't eating as well.

The first day the excuse was that he had forgotten his lunch box.

You, like everyone else that attended your school knew one thing about Seungcheol for certain. He was _more_ than capable of taking care of himself. He wouldn't do something as _immature_ as forgetting his lunch box. He was too responsible for that. His friends didn't seem too suspicious of him, however. They offered him their food and he took some of it.

The second day the excuse was that all the food in the cafeteria was too spicy.

Seungcheol couldn't handle spicy food, and he wasn't afraid to make that known. A few of his friends teased him for his low spice tolerance and reminded him that he should eat and not be such a hypocrite. He laughed, but, you couldn't help but think the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

The third day was the last straw for you.

Seungcheol claimed to have eaten lunch in his last period, _which_ was a totally legit excuse, _had it been true_. You were in his last period, and you knew he hadn't eaten because you had all been strapped with way too much work.

He was clearly skipping meals. He was clearly lying about it to his friends and you _knew_ he liked to eat.

You stood at your kitchen counter looking at what you had done.

You had made too much rice.

You had pulled out two bento boxes.

You had cooked two eggs.

You had two perfectly balanced meals, and you had packed them both comfortably into two separate lunch bags. They were low to mild in spice, and contained no lemons- Seungcheol didn't like lemons- and they even had their own bottles of juice accompanying them.

Two lunches.

You packed two lunches.

You stared at them as the minutes ticked by.

This was ridiculous. How would you even explain this?

"Hey Seungcheol Oppa, I packed you a lunch cause I noticed you aren't eating. I hope you like it- this isn't creepy at all!"

You groaned and buried your face in your hands.

You wouldn't be able to pull this off even if you were close to him!

His friends had been growing suspicious. They had been making him promise he would eat. They had been teasing him for not having food on him at lunchtime. They were doing everything right, but _still, he wasn't eating_.

This was coming to drastic measures.

You swallowed your pride and grabbed the second lunch bag.

When the time came, and it was time for lunch, instead of sitting with your usual few groups _near_ Seungcheol's group of friends, you walked over to his table, set your stuff down next to him and pulled out both lunch packs.

None of his friends were at the table yet, so there was no need to keep it secret. You set the second lunch pack in front of him and began to unpack your own food.

He stared at you, seemingly confused for a second, but you just ignored him. You snapped him back into reality but telling him your name.

"Oh, uh, Seung-"

"I know your name Seungcheol, we've been going to school together for four years now."

Seungcheol pouted a little but let the topic drop. He pointed at the lunch bag in front of him.

"What's this?"

"Your lunch."

You were pleasantly surprised when Seungcheol didn't question this. He opened the pack, looked at the juice and opened his bento box. He tilted his head.

"Is it spicy?"

"No."

"Any lotus root?"

"Of course not."

"Why's there so much of it."

You shot him a short glare.

"I like to eat okay?"

Seungcheol smiled at you, but it wasn't the sort of smile he had been doing recently. The one that didn't really reach his eyes. It was one more genuine then that.

"Thank you."

"Just shut up and eat your food."

And from that moment on, you started to pack lunch for Seungcheol every day.

His friends didn't notice for the most part.

Seungkwan made a joke once about how much more Seungcheol was eating (you took a little offense to that. You didn't pack him anymore then you packed yourself and you thought it was a pretty average portion) which cued Jihoon to notice that you were both eating the same thing.

He didn't say anything but you knew he had noticed.

After that you started packing Seungcheol different things then you thinking that would throw people off, but Seungcheol didn't take well to that.

He started to ask you every day what you were eating, and despite you telling him you didn't particularly like sharing germs, he started to steal your food at times and offer you some of his in return.

You tried to be mad about.

You _wanted_ to tell him off for it, but you didn't.

Instead, you put up with him and his stupid chopsticks reaching over every now and then to steal some of your pork belly. When Seungkwan tried to do the same thing however, you weren't afraid to let him have it for trying to take your food.

* * *

"Do you make your lunch yourself?" Hansol asked. You looked up at him, a piece of lettuce in your mouth preventing you from answering right away. Once you had finished chewing you nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going into the culinary arts so-"

"Wait, _you_ make your food?" Seungcheol blurted. He spit out a piece of bread in the process, which made you slap his elbow lightly.

"Don't waste the food you eat."

His cheeks pinkened ever so slightly and he picked up the food, mumbling an apology. You smiled a little at that.

He was always taking care of the people around him but you had noticed in your time with him that he could be pretty timid when it came to it. You noted that he didn't like it when you thought he wasn't capable of something. (Once he told you that he _would_ bring his lunch if he could, and you assured him that you knew that was true.) You also noted that he enjoyed watching you eat.

He only did it when he thought you weren't paying attention, but a fond smile often found itself on his face when his eyes fell on you.

He was a creep.

That was that he was just a complete and total creep who wasn't afraid to throw everything aside and stop a conversation in its tracks to arm wrestle or to prove a bet.

You didn't _like _him or anything. No. You sat with him at lunch and continued to bring him food because it was beneficial for both of you.

He needed food, you cooked too much, and this way you could try out new recipes on him. Mutually benefiting relationship, that's all this was.

At least, that's what you kept telling yourself.

Until stupid Jihoon cornered you one day after school. He slid his hands into his back pockets and raised an eyebrow towards you.

"Can we talk?"

You rolled your eyes.

"Bold of you to assume I have any time to do so," you responded. Jihoon narrowed his eyes at you, and you knew that he wasn't messing around. You nonchalantly gestured towards him. "Get it out already."

"Why are you making Seungcheol lunch?" He asked. "You aren't going to do something to him are you?"

You actually almost laughed.

"Of course not? What would I do to him?"

Jihoon seemed to accept this answer.

"Look, Seungcheol likes you a lot. God knows why, but he does. I swear if you hurt him-"

"I have no intention of dating Seungcheol!" You blurted out in response. He raised an eyebrow.

"Really? So you haven't even realized it huh?"

"Realized what?"

"You like him," Jihoon replied pointedly. Your jaw nearly dropped.

"You _have_ to be kidding. I don't-"

"You smile more then you used to. Like, a lot more than you used to. You let him share food with you and you don't let anyone else, and when you make him food you don't just make anything. You make his favorite foods. You _spoil_ him," Jihoon pointed out.

You wanted to argue with him. You wanted to tell him that he was wrong but…

"_Fuck_."

He was right.

You had never had friends before. Not really. You had never really seen a point in having friends. You kept acquaintances, and never stayed in the same place for too long mentally to make sure that you didn't get attached to anyone more than necessary and they didn't get attached to you.

But the thought of eating at lunch with anyone but Seungcheol now felt taxing. You went out of your way every day just to see him, and quite frankly, you couldn't imagine what you would do if you didn't get to eat with him every day.

Jihoon took a step towards you, his expression oddly sympathetic.

"Be careful kid."

"I'm not-," you tried to argue, but before you could even get the whole statement out Jihoon was down the hallway. You huffed in aggravation.

_This_ was precisely why you didn't get close to people in the first place. What was the point in getting to know people when they would just figure out how to annoy you? Now Jihoon and the others felt _comfortable _around you. Even Seungkwan had begun to poke fun at you during your classes together, and you had _two_ classes with him.

You only had one with Seungcheol.

In fact, all of Seungcheol friends had begun to go out of their way in order to include you in their lives. Every week you got invited to spend time with the boys outside of school. Every week you denied.

It was getting harder to deny.

"You know, we're going to stop inviting you if you keep saying no," Seungcheol commented off-handedly one day. You glanced at him.

"You wouldn't do that," you replied stubbornly. He shrugged.

"You don't know that for sure. I'm certainly not afraid to stop asking. We aren't getting anywhere asking you all the time to come when you always say no. It's a waste of my energy."

"Oh because you usually use your energy so precisely," you teased right back. "You're so easy to manipulate into doing things- I could make you do whatever I wanted to with two words."

Seungcheol scoffed.

"Bet."

"You won't."

You responded clicking your tongue after each word. Seungcheol's face reddened a bit and he turned away from you.

"Look, just hang out with us sometime after class okay?" he murmured. He was clearly embarrassed, which confirmed what you had already known. You were right of course. You knew Seungcheol pretty well after all of the time that you had spent with him.

You were so stupid to get so close to someone. You were staking your entire career on some boy with shaggy dark hair and heavy crescent moon eyelids.

"Fine, I'll hang out with you guys on Friday."

The entire lunch table fell silent. To the rest of the kids in the cafeteria, it was like a bunch of kids had decided to skip class the room got so quiet. Seungcheol and his friends were always the loudest kids in the cafeteria considering the fact that there were 13 of them (14 plus you) so it wasn't like the sudden silence didn't go unnoticed. You looked up and wrinkled your nose.

"What?"

"You're seriously going to hang out with us?" Seungcheol breathed out. "You'll come to the arcade with us this Friday? Really?"

You hit him lightly with your elbow.

"If you keep acting so surprised I won't come."

And just like that, the noise at the table picked back up. Seungcheol's friends were creepily in sync with everything they did pretty much all the time. It made sense. They had all been friends since diapers and spent all their time together.

They were the essence of everything that you had been avoiding in your life.

You had never wanted to be that close to anyone. So close that it seemed like you were inseparable. It made the eventual falling out between two people just that much worse. You didn't ever want to get so close to someone that your falling out would just hurt your heart in the end.

You looked over at Seungcheol and tilted your head ever so slightly.

"Seungcheol. If I didn't bring you lunch anymore what would you do?" You asked softly. Seungcheol slowed his chewing, and you noticed that his head was cocked to the side as well.

"I'd be a lot skinnier," he responded slowly. "Would you still sit with me?"

"Perhaps."

"As long as you sat with me, I think I would be okay. You make me really happy. Happier than I thought I would ever be again," he answered.

You loved food. You loved it more than anything else in the world. It was your entire life, and it would be your entire life for the rest of your life. Never in your life had you ever prioritized anything over the meal at hand.

You put down your chopsticks.

"What are you talking about? You have all these great friends around you. More than I've ever had."

"It's not all fun and games," Seungcheol sighed. "Friendships are great, but I'm the oldest of all my friends. The mom of the group. Everyone comes to me with their problems but-"

"You don't have anyone to go to with your own," you finished for him. You unconsciously inched your hand towards his, but you didn't take it. You just rested yours near his. It was all you could do. You couldn't be the first to touch his hand in this relationship. You had never really _had_ a relationship before. You weren't entirely sure how to do this.

"Why… Why did you stop bringing lunch to school?" You asked finally, your voice dropping a few octaves. A small, sad smile crossed Seungcheol's lips. It was one you hadn't seen on his lips since after you had begun to eat lunch with him. It was the reason that you had made that first lunch for him in the first place. It was a look you never wanted to see on his face.

You didn't want to see him smile when he didn't want to.

You had done a lot of that when you were younger. It was the worst thing anyone could ever have to do. To have to look someone you care about in the eyes and spread your lips into a smile even though your entire body protested the expression.

Seungcheol didn't answer the question.

He brought his hand up, all of his fingers curled down except for his index finger, which he posed in front of his lips silently.

You nodded once and returned your attention to your food.

The lunch period bore on, and Seungcheol resumed to his normal self so quickly it was like you hadn't seen that worn side of him. Still, you couldn't help but note that at the end of the lunch period, you still had some rice in your bento box left.

* * *

When Friday came around, Seungcheol wasn't at school.

You were admittedly concerned.

As far back as you could remember, Seungcheol had never missed a day of school and without Seungcheol, you weren't really sure what the lunch protocol was. You were nervous walking into the lunch room when Seungcheol wasn't there.

You weren't nervous for long. Seungkwan got up, standing on his chair.

"_Y/N over here, Seungcheol isn't here today!"_

You walked over to the table silently.

"You sure it's okay that I still sit here?" You asked softly. Seokmin laughed.

"This table isn't exclusive. Besides, you're part of the family now! Sit down!"

You did as instructed, feeling odd without Seungcheol there.

Well, you said you felt odd but the feeling inside you was just… Unfamiliar to you. To most people, it wasn't odd. It was normal even.

You missed him.

You were so used to seeing him that you missed him.

You missed his smile and his laugh.

You missed the way he watched you eat, even though it was weird, and how he stole your food even though you packed him plenty. You missed watching him bicker with his friends, and give you compliments even when you didn't really think you deserved them.

Was that what it was like to be in love?

You weren't the type of person to believe in such things, but… This just… It felt like what love was described as in the movies.

Wanting to be with someone for the rest of your life. Being able to handle the days when you weren't together, and being able to feel happy even on the days that he didn't want to be with you but still wanting to share your life with him.

"Where's Seungcheol anyways?" You asked conversationally, resting your head on your hand. You had barely touched your food.

"No clue, it's not like him to miss a day," Minghao commented. "He didn't even text anyone."

"You should go visit him after school," Jihoon spoke up. You frowned at him.

"Why me?"

"Cause out of all of us, I bet you're the one he most wants to see."

Your face reddened a little and you looked down at your food.

"Shut up."

When real people were actually in real relationships with one another, they did things that were out of their own comfort zone in order to please the other. You didn't have to have been in a relationship before in order to know that much.

You had done a lot of sacrificing for Seungcheol. You sacrificed your lunches, your resources, and your time. He sacrificed things for you too. They were more subtle, and normally you probably wouldn't have noticed, but thinking about it now, you recognized the things he did for you.

Or, in other words, what he _didn't_ do for you.

Seungcheol was an affectionate person. He was very close to the people that he liked. He was touchy to others and wasn't afraid to let his affection shine.

He held back with you. He had recognized that you needed time and he didn't push you. He was careful with how much he interacted with you, how close he got to you if he touched you.

So you decided that you could make one more _big_ sacrifice. For now at least. In the future, you could see yourself making more sacrifices for him.

You took a deep breath, checked the address the other boys had given you one more time and knocked on the door.

It Seungcheol three minutes to answer and when he did, he was disheveled.

He had on a sweatshirt, his hair was a mess, the bags under his eyes were heavier than usual. He had definitely looked better, but still…

"Wha-"

You pushed the door further open and wrapped your arms around the boy. He was surprised at first but dissolved into the hug pretty quickly. He liked hugs. You knew that. You didn't generally like hugs, and he had never tried to hug you before but… This felt good… This was nice.

"You aren't sick… Are you?" You mumbled into Seungcheol's chest. It wasn't really a question. He was silent for so long that for a moment, you didn't think he would tell you the answer you already knew.

"No," he said finally.

"This has to do with your lunches… Doesn't it?" You asked tentatively. Seungcheol pushed you back just enough that you could see his face. He smiled. It wasn't that sad smile that you had seen before. It was soft, it was _happy_.

"It did," he agreed. "But that's over now. Everything that gave anyone a reason to worry about me, is over now. You don't have to bring lunch to school for me anymore."

You didn't know what had happened, but you knew that at the moment Seungcheol didn't want to talk about, and either way he was happy.

And that made you happy.

"I didn't just make those lunches for you. I make too much food every morning if you don't take it who will?" You responded. Seungcheol laughed. It was small, and in his chest, but it was nice either way.

"Thanks. Really, thank you," he said. You swatted his arm and pulled out from his warmth. You regretted. _Actually, regretted it._ You missed being in his arms, _god_ this man made you utterly pathetic.

"Go clean yourself off, aren't we all hanging out tonight?"

Seungcheol's eyes widened and he nodded once.

"Right! I'll be right back."

He slammed the door with a surprising surge of energy. You smiled and took a seat on the railing of his front porch.

You didn't like to wait for people. Your time was precious to you and the only thing you thought to be worth your time was cooking. _Food_ was your everything.

Seungcheol burst through the front door.

He looked better all washed up. He held out a hand towards you.

"Did you eat much today?"

"No," you responded. "I couldn't eat at lunch today. Do you know how often I've been able to _not_ eat? I swear to you, I _never_ don't want to eat."

Seungcheol gave you a concerned expression.

"Then why didn't you eat?' He asked. You looked away from him.

"_We_ eat lunch together now."

"Oh."

He was silent for a moment.

"Then let's go eat something."

You nodded and Seungcheol began to talk about how much he had missed your cooking and it had only been a day. You looked at him as he spoke. His eyes were wide, he was happy, _absorbed_ in the moment.

You rationalized that your time with him may not be as seemingly productive as your time cooking was, but maybe, just _maybe_ it was still just as important.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

A powerful start to my Seventeen Tsudere Children AU Series! 13 weeks of Seventeen, _this was a mistake let's go!_ Follow my tumblr for constant updates! The url is: leejihoonownsmyheart uwu. Hope everyone enjoys this! It was a ton of fun to write! I don't have much experience writing you/person fics, so I hope it wasn't too bad!


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